A Fairytale Come True
by snowwy-night-sky
Summary: Row, row, row your boat, gently down the sea. Carefully, carefully, carefully, carefully, be wary with what you'll see. Mermaid AU


**_Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail. This disclaimer applies to all of the chapters of this fanfic._**

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_Once upon a time, in a faraway land, there lived an ordinary human…_

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"Row, row, row your boat, gently down the sea! Carefully, carefully, carefully, be wary with what you'll see!"

"What?"

"What what?"

"What is Tsukuyo singing?"

"Dumbass, it's a rhyme!"

"I know that you firebrain! I meant, what's with the lyrics? It sounds way too creepy to teach to a 3 year old girl. Or children."

"Ice Princess, have you ever heard the ring around the rosie one? Dude, it's a song about drugs! And they teach it to children! I'm sure this one's fine."

"Ring around the rosie was about the Black Death, you idiot."

"Whatever, smartass. Maybe it's a warning about sharks or crocodiles?"

"Then they should have used 'If you see sharks or crocodiles don't forget to scream' instead of just a warning. That way people will know what to _expect_."

"Quit nitpicking. It's not tha- You know what? My hair will turn grey if I continue this conversation. I'm outta here."

Gray Fullbuster irritatedly sighed as he watched Natsu Dragneel walk away from him with his hands crossed behind his head. His best friend (he swears it sounds weird every time he uses that word) had just abandoned him in the middle of nowhere, probably forgetting the fact that he's just a tourist here and doesn't know the way around the place. It's not that it's his own choice and decision to visit the quite famous town Magnolia.

The town is famous for its sea. Or, to be more specific, what's in the sea. Magnolia is the only place where you can find unique and one-of-a-kind fish species. The moment he stepped foot in the town, the first thing he saw was a blue-bodied, yellow-headed fish with wings and fish that can qualify as a dragon. He made the wrong choice by listening to Natsu prattle on about how good the winged fish was and tried it. Worst decision in his whole 26 years of life. He spent the whole day puking his guts out and swore in between of praying to the ceramic throne to never, _ever_ eat a fish with wings.

"Uncle Gray, Daddy's gone!"

Gray snapped his head towards his left to see a chubby girl with pink hair with tears in her black eyes. The little girl was an exact copy of her father. Even her personality is just like Natsu's. The only thing the girl inherited from her mother is her intelligence.

The little girl was named Tsukuyo. Natsu originally wanted to name her Layla Luna, a combination of their names but Lucy decided against it. As much as she wants to give the child her beloved mother's name, she wants their daughter to have her own legacy. But Lucy liked the idea of moon for a name so they decided to give the name Tsukuyo, which has the characters for 'moon' in Japanese. Tsukuyo was half the reason why he visited Magnolia. Natsu and Lucy wanted to introduce their daughter to him, which was kinda sweet in a way or another.

"Uh," he uncomfortably replied, raking his brain for something just to keep the little girl from crying. "It's okay. We'll go on an adventure to find him."

"Really?" Tsukuyo smiled up to him and he mentally gave himself a pat on the back for a job well done. He also mentally cursed Natsu for leaving his daughter with him. Or maybe he forgot.

"Yeah. Let's go." Gray took Tsukuyo's hand and they walked down the streets of Magnolia with him, silently praying that they'd find their way back and with Tsukuyo skipping, singing the, in his opinion, quite skewered nursery rhyme.

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They both found their way back to Natsu and Lucy's home, much to his relief and thanks to Tsukuyo's brilliant memory and the friendly people. Gray was a little bit apprehensive to let Tsukuyo lead the way, but he did so, anyway, after she looked at him with puppy dog eyes. And that was when he realized that he's a sucker for puppy dog eyes. But he asked the townspeople just to be sure. Turns out that little Tsukuyo is always out for 'adventure'.

His train of thought was interrupted when they reached Tsukuyo's house. Screams of a woman (Lucy, he quickly assumed) were heard followed by the pleas of mercy by a man (Natsu the Coward) and as much as he wants to hear Natsu beg for forgiveness for leaving her baby girl with the fucking bastard (he had to cover little Tsukuyo's ear), he thought that their neighbors will appreciate a peaceful neighborhood.

"Mommy!" Tsukuyo ran to Lucy who reached her arms to catch her hyperactive daughter.

"You make it look like as if I kidnapped her." he teasingly told Lucy and took a seat beside Natsu on the sofa and held his fist up for a fist bump.

Lucy peppered her daughter's face with kisses and then winked at Gray before walking towards the bathroom to give Tsukuyo a bath.

"She acts all sweet now but just a minute ago she threatened to castrate you if something ever happened to Tsukuyo. It must be that time of the month." Natsu loudly whispered to Gray when Lucy shut the bathroom door.

"Oops! Sorry Natsu, I dropped your new watch in the toilet." The flushing of the toilet was heard behind the door.

"Sorry baby!" Natsu shouted before quietly muttered, "Damn, I liked that watch."

Gray snickered, "Maybe you should keep your hole shut once in a while."

"Shut _your_ hole. But if it's not PMS, one thing that comes to my- crap, she must be pregnant again." Natsu walked towards the fridge and took out bottles of beers and grabbed the two bottle openers and set it on the table then he settled on the chair in front of Gray.

"How can you tell?" Gray asked while reaching for the beer and popped it open.

"Well, for one, she's gaining weight again."

Suddenly, Lucy's voice rang muffled by the closed bathroom door, "Natsu, what's your phone doing in here? Oops! Sorry! My hand slipped and dropped your phone in the tub."

Gray laughed at the miserable face Natsu was making, "Told ya."

"Shut up, asshole."

Gray threw the can opener towards Natsu in retaliation, an action that he knew to be a bit childish but he really couldn't help it. They had been friends since childhood. He was the transfer student and Natsu was the hyperactive student who challenges everyone to prove that he's stronger than anyone else. The two of them tied in a racing match and ever since then, they have been rivals. They competed in everything. Math, where they scored a big fat F, racing, swimming, everything. And before they even knew it, they became best friends. They were inseparable until Natsu decided to get married to the blonde bombshell a year after they graduated from community college. He won't say that it was a heartbreaking moment when Natsu loaded the truck with their stuff, but he felt sad.

"Man, I never thought you'd let Lucy wear the pants. You're so _whipped_." he made a whooshing sound chortled. Natsu merely glared at Gray, knowing that it was the truth. Well, kinda.

"You weren't here when she was pregnant."

"Thankfully."

The two of them settled in a comfortable silence, the clinking of the bottle against the glass table the only sound heard along with the casual giggling of a woman and a girl.

"_Row, row, row your boat, gently down the sea!_"

"That nursery rhyme's so fucked up."

Natsu snorted, "Why are you being so anal about it? It's just a nursery rhyme. Get over it."

Gray refused to say anything, and he will never say it out loud but the song gives him the creeps. It makes him feel as if there is something evil out there in the sea, which, considering that Magnolia is famous for fishes and some can be passed as dragons, may be true.

"The fishermen were the ones who fucked that song up." Natsu said after they once again lapsed into silence.

"Obviously."

"Wanna hear the story behind it?" Natsu wiggled his eyebrows and grinned.

"Nah."

"Alright. People said that something happened to some fishermen about 30 years ago," he said, completely ignoring Gray's refusal, making the dark-haired man think that Natsu's been itching to tell it to him. Gray ignored his best friend and focused his attention on a shelf filled with books.

"…they were fishing, _obviously_, and then, they disappeared. People thought they drowned. A week passed and then suddenly, someone spotted the bodies of the fishermen with a hole in their chest. Their hearts were taken out, all but one. A fisherman survived, but he was…. uh…. I dunno? Crazy? Anyway, whenever he was asked what happened, all he'd ever say was…." Natsu trailed off, trying to build the tension.

"Was…?" Gray echoed, uninterested. He decided that he had enough of humoring his crazy best friend so he tuned out the next words Natsu uttered. He instead focused his hearing on the sound of a door opening and closing and another opening and then closing again, noting that Lucy must be done giving her daughter a bath. He saw Natsu's lips move from his peripheral vision and nodded his head, just to show that he's listening. And then, Natsu laughed, a sign that he has finished whatever he told him.

"Alright! I have to go help out some guys in the port. They said something along the lines of free drinks in a bar." Gray stood up and walked towards the rack to grab his jacket.

"Aren't you afraid that you might see them?"

"Nope. It sounds stupid." he said, sure that whatever his best friend told him was a complete and utter bullshit. Natsu used to make stories about dragons and stuff and he learned how to tune him out whenever he gets into one of his 'episodes'. He thought Natsu grew out of that stage of his life. Obviously, he thought wrong.

"Oh, you're leaving?" Lucy came out, carrying a giggling Tsukuyo on her hips.

"Yeah, I gotta find something to eat tonight."

"That's not what he said, Luce."

"Whatever, Natsu. Anyway, I told you that you can stay here instead of paying a stupid, overpriced hotel." Lucy started ranting, making ridiculous hand gestures. He saw Natsu shooing him mouthing 'go', already knowing that his wife will rant all day.

"….and then what did you do? Re-"

"I have to go Lucy."

"Oh, sorry. Tsuki, say bye to Uncle Gray." Lucy set Tsukuyo on the ground and the little girl ran up to him, hugging his leg.

"Will I see you again, Uncle Gray?" she lisped out, shooting him a curious stare. Gray swore that the kid is way too attached to him, even though they only met for a few days. It's either her parents told her about him or she's way too trusting. He patted the top of her hair and nodded, waiting for her to release his leg.

It seemed that she had no plans of letting him go so Natsu stepped forward and coaxed her with the promise of chocolate and cookies which worked wonders.

He once again fist-bumped with Natsu and then waved to Lucy and Tsukuyo before stepping out of their house, vaguely registering the little girl's lisped 'be careful, there are monsters in the sea'.

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**I noticed that even though Juvia is the water woman, there are no fics about her as a mermaid. I no longer read fics as much as I used to years ago so I might've overlooked some fics. And this fic is actually inspired by the conversation that I had with my sister (over the net lol) who is also a fanfic writer, ****Lilaaaaaa. ****She asked me to tell her a bedtime story and then I told her a….. fucked up story lol. All I can say is that it started with a once upon a time and ended with a happily ever after. I kinda felt a little guilty when I reread our conversation on facebook so I'm dedicating this story to her. I love you sis!**

**Anyway, please leave a review and let me know what you think.**


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